ID this knife please

[piscevore]

I have been told that it is either Chitala lopis or Notopterus notopterus but I am still having trouble deciding. It is about 15 cm long at the moment. This is a link to a video of it which is alot better than the photos, with close-ups of its head and body. Fingers crossed its lopis!

http://s142.photobucket.com/albums/r91/piscevore/?action=view&current=knifevid.flv

Its 12.71 Megs. Let me know if it works, ive never put a vid on the net.

 

[messiner]

def Chitala lopis! great find!!

 

[benzjamin13]

It's a Chitala Lopis. The Notoperus Notoperus has more of a rounded head like the African Brown Knife (Xenomystus Nigri), except N. Notoperus has a dorsal fin and they are more of a dark grey than the regular Clown Knives.

 

[piscevore]

Thats incredible. I think this is the first time its been in western australia, if not all of Australia. Its easy for you to get a fish like that in the USA, in Oz a normal clown knife costs about $1000 dollars australian for a 1.5 foot fish. I thought it was a lopis aswell but Ive never seen either in Oz so I couldnt be sure. Thanks guys. If anyone has a good reason to disagree with this classification let me know.

 

[kingkong]

nice fish

 

[USMC Sniper]

Yeah, Lopis it is. Hope you have a nice, LARGE tank for him!
Beautiful fish.

 

[tankyou]

Yeah, Lopis it is. Hope you have a nice, LARGE tank for him!
Beautiful fish.

Are they good eating??? Bet it fought like hell... poor knife!

 

[USMC Sniper]

Are they good eating??? Bet it fought like hell... poor knife!

Actually, they're supposed to be GREAT eating. There are recipes all over the net for 'em. Funny what one culture considers haute cuisine, another keep as pets! Koreans have kegogi (sp?), we call that dog...

 

[inspectahdeck34]

nice looking fish hope hes in a large tank they look great full grown

 

[piscevore]

I got ripped off!!!!! As its grown more it has developed the classic knife fish spots. Looks like a normal clown knife. (its in a ten ft tank by the way USMC Sniper, So I wont need to upgrade for a long time)